Learnings from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

P Suresh TCS 4/20/2011

Preface
Reading the newspaper daily is a good opportunity to learn what works or does not. When the World Cup was in progress last month, I noticed news items on situations similar to what we sometimes see at work. Using Google News and the online ePapers, I had started sharing the news and the learnings in lunch-time mails to the Process Excellence Group. Apart from the responses, the mails were also forwarded to others by the recipients. The TCS Core PEG had, a while back, set up a Delivery Assurance Managers community on Knowmax. Prabha Thomas of the Delivery Design Group requested me to publish these regularly on the community in an area called Expert Commentary. I was, of course, warm to the request. But, more than that, Prabha made me an offer I could not refuse- to quote her words, And to please keep writing till India wins the World cup :-)." With such a request, how dare I stop before India wins the cup? I have consolidated all these learnings in this e-book as a Memento of the India victory. In the context of the DAM community, some of the learnings in this set are related to increasing the alignment of Quality Assurance to Delivery Assurance and business goals. But many of them are more universal. I thank all the readers of these messages and their responses which are there on the DAM Community. As in all behavioural situations, there isnt one right answer- there were some passionate, challenging responses, so your mileage may vary! I hope we continue to replicate these results and sentiments within TCS and in cricket!

P Suresh (p.suresh@tcs.com) April 2011

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Contents
Compliance- not in Spirit!.............................................................................................. 4 Improving Process Alignment with Delivery............................................................. 5 Team Empowerment and Engagement ........................................................................ 7 Supporting Team Improvement................................................................................... 8 Goal Alignment, and Review Effectiveness............................................................. 10 Getting the steam out ................................................................................................. 12 Risk-Benefit Analysis................................................................................................... 13 Fun at Work ................................................................................................................... 14 No Lessons Learnt! ....................................................................................................... 16 Don't Shoot the Messenger!...................................................................................... 17 Work-Life Balance........................................................................................................ 19 Getting Across the Right Message ......................................................................... 20 Stay Cool at Work! ....................................................................................................... 21 Making a Game Plan that Wins.................................................................................. 22 Increase Credibility, Acceptability and Utility.................................................... 24 Predictive Causal Analysis or Excuses?.................................................................. 26 Result or Process: Which is More Important? ..................................................... 28 How Effective should a Review/Audit be? ............................................................ 30 Celebration Time!!........................................................................................................ 32

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Compliance- not in Spirit!

8 March 2011

This news item from today's newspaper on security checks at an ICC Cricket World Cup venue illustrates the risk, if any, of checklist-based compliance. It is obvious that while the security guard had a checklist with the item 'coin' on it, he had no clue of why the item was on the checklist- what is the risk if the item was allowed? Either he was not (or badly) educated on the risks. Why else would he allow Euros, Dollars and Pounds but not Rupees and Paise? This is the risk we run if we do not educate the practitioners adequately on the risks and benefits of what is required by them for deployment in spirit. Then again, while the foreign coins were let in, the stadiums did not explode except when Yusuf Pathan hit the sixers.. Does anyone know why coins in stadia are a security threat?

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Improving Process Alignment with Delivery

9 March 2011

Here's today's Eureka. Whenever there is process to be followed and creates perceived difficulties, it is necessary to let people know about the rationale, what is interesting here is that the rationale is defended by the 'delivery leader' (captain), not the department which enforces the process. It would be even better when the customer (spectator) articulates their alignment this message and this is publicized.

Another news that came up was the Sri Lankan captain Sangakkara objecting to the change of the 2.5 meter rule in the UDRS review during the tournament. Look at the sequence: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. UDRS is announced by ICC India does not agree UDRS is enforced in the World Cup Usage of UDRS in one instance makes the Indian captain Dhoni unhappy because of the 2.5 meter rule ICC calls Dhoni 'ignorant' BCCI fights for Dhoni against the ICC, calls it a pressure tactic on our captain In a next match UDRS review, the 2.5 meter rule is not used ICC admits the 2.5 meter rule is dropped Sangakkara now objects to the change!

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It will be interesting to see how the ICC handles this situation. When the new process was introduced, buy-in was not obtained from stakeholders. Once deployed, problems arose due to multiple views and the situation pressure led to panicky changes which have made the problem worse. Please keep this in mind when rolling out new processes to your projects. Engage, engage, engage... PS. For colleagues not from India (or another cricket-crazy nation), some definitions: Lathi-charge: A baton charge by policemen for crowd control. The objective is to induce the right behaviour, not to punish. Cricket: A game played by 22 fools and watched by 22000 fools. (George Bernard Shaw)

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Team Empowerment and Engagement

10 March 2011

I told Sachin you are out: Virat Bengaluru, March 6: If Sachin Tendulkar walks up to you and asks you something about cricket then you are special. And if the little master asks whether he is out or not then you have to be something more than special. Virat Kohli on Sunday had a similar moment he will remember all his life. In the 21st over when Tendulkar was adjudged out lbw to a young George Dockrell, the legend walked to take Virats opinion on whether to take a review or not. Virat politely said, I think that is out, Sachin. -This incident from the India-Ireland match continues to be appreciated in the media. Virat Kohli was a newborn when Sachin made his debut for India. If the King of Cricket had asked for an UDRS review of the lbw appeal as his 'right', no one would have objected. But an invalid review would have wasted one from the quota. Sachin's strength was not only to trust a junior team member- also to demonstrate a work environment where a junior team member can give a frank unfavourable message without the fear of getting shot.

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Supporting Team Improvement

11 March 2011 How do you react to failure? Taking a stand of "We are like that only" never helps. Continuous improvement is important, as is acknowledging improvements made by predecessors, like Dhoni did after India topped the ICC Test Rankings. Then again, continuous improvement must always be encouraged by leaders- not like this Dhoni response after the match against Ireland: "We are showing signs of improvement in bowling. Our fielding will be the same, our exceptional fielders can get better but our slow fielders will remain the same. It's important to peak at right time as it is long tournament" A good method to counter public criticism of your team is with a sense of humour:

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Pakistani wicket-keeper was missing a lot of chances which led to SMS jokes like the one by the reporter. Whatever the limitations of a team member, a good leader supports them in public, for you respond as a team. Criticisms are best made internally in teams.

Have a great weekend and may India smash South Africa :-)

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Goal Alignment, and Review Effectiveness

14 March 2011 Recovering from a rather depressing weekend with memories of Chetan Sharma and Javed Miandad... Delivery Strategy. Do you focus on business requirements or on cosmetic 'bells and whistles'? When we plan a release, be it software or process, it's necessary to focus on how it will help us meet business goals. This post-match comment by Dhoni underlines this point. The star Indian batsmen assumed that what was produced by Sachin, Sehwag and Gambhir was adequate to meet the team goals and started working on low priority features, and we saw the results- rather than 30 runs more they got 30 runs less.

But one point we must concede is that the Tornado Threesome (Yusuf, Yuvraj, Virat) were well meaning in their essays, unlike the case below.. When in a crunch situation, do you play for your team or for your close relations/friends? Here's a gentleman who does the latter, and see the result.

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Finally, what do you do to make a review/audit clearance useful?

You focus on the purpose of what you review. What is the impact/risk of something being present or absent? Simply saying I saw this was present does not help anyone!

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Getting the steam out

15 March 2011

There is no point in just sulking when something has gone wrong. Let off the steam, then return back to normal to excel!

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Risk-Benefit Analysis
16 March 2011

Duminy's 99 prove too many for Ireland After 43 overs against Ireland JP Duminy was on 60. In the last over he was on 99. What is the benefit targeted by a risky shot rather than a single? In the Man of the Match interview, he said that it is important to get more runs than achieve a personal target with a single. Result: South Africa was one run less than what they could and Duminy missed his 100. Was the Risk-Benefit Analysis appropriate? Should it have been different if you were playing a better opponent- India's similar mistake against South Africa is a case in point. Today I don't know the right answer.

Also how will you handle similar situations at work? There is a similarity with the Akmals story- is your goal important or the team's goal? You have system tested 80% of your test cases, including the high priority functionality and closed all the Sev 1, Sev 2 defects. Your customer's UAT team is waiting to start testing so as to be able to go live on a target date. Will you delay the delivery or deliver with known defects and unknown defects in lower priority business functions? Would you approve a concession? What is the Risk-Benefit Analysis here?

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Fun at Work
17 March 2011

Not much happening on the World Cup front for India, now, so it's time for stress-busting fun at work. Fun at work has three components: Stress reduction Team bonding Reinforcing themes important to work for a team, in a mind-catching, lasting fashion. - A bit like this daily learning :-) HR Processes like PROPEL do this, But many leaders do this as part of their work, which all of us would have experienced. I am sharing one such below from many years ago- rough transcript of a meeting between a Delivery Head and a recently appointed Group Leader. DH, GL- Greetings and listing what's to be discussed. Main items get discussed. DH- Anything else? GL- I have to do this but... DH- Here's how you can do.. Anything else?

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GL- And another thing..... DH- No problem, here's what you do....Anything more? GL- Yes, how do I handle this.... DH (to secretary) Can you ask the canteen guy to get me a spoon? Spoon is ordered, arrives on a spotlessly clean plate. DH thanks the canteen guy and tells the GL with a smile- You are asking me to spoon feed you so many times, I needed a spoon! The message could not have gone more clearly than this, and will never get forgotten.

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No Lessons Learnt!
18 March 2011

Oh my God! I could find NO lessons learnt from the ICC World Cup today. But I have a 'Deliverable' due; at least I feel some pressure on this. So what do I do? Write something trivial, or say that there are no lessons learnt? In my view the former. Now how does this relate to work? Cast a glance at the Best Practices and Lessons Learnt sections in PMR presentations. Sometimes we see items that do not deserve to be there with that title. Here are a few types that come to my mind, seen over many years: Unit testing must be properly done Have regular team meetings Take backups regularly Technical lessons that are taught in the E0 level training on the subject. (I was tempted to search on Knowmax/EQP for live examples. While there were a few presentations, I did not copy the samples so that no one feels singled out. And many PMR reports had blanks on LL/BP.) These kind of LL/BP instances arise for two reasons: The team is working on the project has faced some setbacks during the project and had to struggle to recover. So what looks obvious to you as part of our processes are ingrained in the team's mind as 'learning' The team thinks- we've been working for 6 months, how can we say we have learnt no lessons, what will the reviewer and PEG say? So the first things that enter their mind are put down. Reflect- how many of the LL/BP items listed look trivial to you? What should you do to correct the writer? How do you get the 'punch' LL/BP inputs and how do you harvest them? So there, I have somehow created my deliverable for the day :-)! Have a great weekend and may our interest in the World Cup continue next week!

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Don't Shoot the Messenger!

21 March 2011

What do you do when you see something that is negative for you or your group, which others don't see? Tendulkar, Ponting at opposite poles as walking debate rages CHENNAI: Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar and Australian captain Ricky Ponting took two opposite sides as the walking debate raged in the ongoing cricket World Cup in the sub-continent. Tendulkar walked back to the pavillion despite the umpire signalling not out during India's league match against the West Indies, while Ponting stayed his ground till he was ruled out after a successful review by Pakistan in another match. Tendulkar was hoping to score his 100th international hundred but his innings ended when he was dismissed for just two. He faced only four balls, clipping fast bowler Ravi Rampaul to wicket-keeper Devon Thomas and he walked without waiting for the umpire's decision. Ponting had made 19 when he edged off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez to Kamran Akmal at the R Premadasa stadium in Colombo on Saturday. When on-field umpire Marias Erasmus gave the Australian captain not out, the decision was reviewed and overturned. Ponting admitted he knew he had edged the ball but said he had always waited for the umpire's decision all through his career. "There were no doubts about the nick, I knew I hit it, but as always I wait for the umpire to give me out. That's the way I've always played the game," he said. _____

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How associates participate openly in reviews and audits is influenced by how negative inputs are received. Not just by the process group, but also by the delivery leadership team. This does not mean that PMRs and audits are slugfest parties- sometimes this happens, unfortunately. The same openness is required in internal project review meetings so that issues are brought up early for resolution. Actually, what is best is that when an auditor or reviewers does not unearth issues, but sees that all issues are known to the project team and are being addressed. These sessions can then add value by suggesting methods to solve the issues- something that would make audits and reviews more welcome! And how would you have reacted to Sachin's walk if India had lost to the West Indies? While results matter, integrity and courage are equally important. So, todays learning is: Don't shoot the messenger! PS. Rajiv Kumar, TCS FS HR sent me this correction By the way Sachin has not been a regular walker. Please don't go by his act against WI last week. He was out on Steyn's bowling in SA in the third test when he had hardly scored any run. He went on to complete the century and saved the test match. Of course Ponting never walks.. The only true walker among present cricketers is Hashim Amla.

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Work-Life Balance
22 March 2011

I think the learning is obvious! Do not ignore Life just because you happen to be at Work. And do change your tone and language when you talk to your family in the midst of a 'difficult' Work call/meeting. Suitable, but perhaps different Business Values must be articulated to each stakeholder to get their buy-in to what you want to do. The Business Value (Barbie Dolls, in this case) had better be delivered and accepted. Or you won't be believed again. Note: Some recipients of this message told me they forwarded the mail to their spouses. While matters on the other messages may be TCS internal, I guess sharing this learning outside TCS is OK!

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Getting Across the Right Message

23 March 2011

What do you do if you are convinced that something is right but the message is not accepted?

More than a decade ago, a QAG Head at the then Hyderabad Branch saw a situation in a critical project where the delivery leaders were not reacting positively to the risks identified and what was needed to address them. After trying to persuade them for some time without success, she had to do what Geoff did and said something like: "If you do not address this, I am going to talk to the CEO. "(In today's org structure, more likely the OU Head.) At a later branch quality heads meeting, she narrated this incident very naturally, which showed the ingrained conviction and ability to escalate when required. (Today she is a relationship leader in the Telecom ISU.) As I write this the West Indies are 101/8 and if India wins tomorrow, will most likely face Pakistan in the semis. But whoever plays the finals, it will be a beauty treat!

Should all projects be seen as good-looking in audits and reviews, or is the Mumbai Police approach right? Isn't it better to have an effective health regimen than pick and choose the cops for the finals?

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Stay Cool at Work!

24 March 2011

I'm kinda superstitious. That's why I'm sending this hours before the war starts today.. Waugh Zone - Revenge is a dish best served cold - Steve Waugh's column (extract) SET THE RECORD RIGHT This is a great opportunity for India to wash off the memories of Wanderers in 2003. A lot of players in this India team were part of that drubbing. India need to shut out expectations and pressure and remain calm. That was all of eight years and a day before Thursday's game, but then, revenge is a dish best served cold. -How do you react in a situation at work where a previous episode was a setback- for you, your project, your group, or your customer? Steve, who was also a walker like Sachin and unlike his successor Ricky, shows the way! Do you follow superstitions at work on important days? Like a lucky dress or tie... Does it work for you?

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Making a Game Plan that Wins

25 March 2011

First of all, my 'superstition' worked ;-) Many lessons learnt from yesterday.

Stay cool under pressure at work. This was suggested yesterday has been shown to be effective! Team composition. Who are your stakeholders and how do you work with them? Do you understand the business environment, rather do you have members in your team who understand the environment and can implement the right strategy for it? Everyone cannot be expected to be an all-rounder, though they must aspire for it. Situation-based team rotation must also be made like getting in Raina instead of Yusuf. And sometimes, telling a team

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that you cannot do something motivates them to prove their leader wrong, as Dhoni and Afridi have pleasantly seen this week! Calm start. When anything in the environment is new/changed, there will be a settling phase. This may be a new PL, GL, DAG member, or a newly designed and process. During this time, do not set unrealistic expectations or create that image. On one of the earlier tours, Dhoni once said he needs 8 balls to get the drift of the situation and then start blazing after tailoring to the situation. What is the equivalent of 8 balls in our business situation? And how you tailor to the situation? Counter-attack: Routine methods will not be adequate in a tight situation. But we know this anyway!

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Increase Credibility, Acceptability and Utility

28 March 2011

When you represent the Process Excellence Group and interact with delivery teams, it's important to spin it (pun unintended) in the right direction. What does this require? Having an understanding of the environment and conditions where the projects work. How does the customer and the delivery team benefit from it and what are the challenges. Not just from a process standpoint- also the business function and the technology. When Inti came to Mohali, he started chatting with the PCA members and ground staff just as if he was still part of them. For a few moments, imagine you have joined the project/group. Think of you can help them, beyond your own agenda, and share it with them. Let the team become comfortable sharing their problems and any failures with you. If they tell you about a customer complaint, do you just ask them whether it is entered in IPMS or do you help them address it? If you share lessons from your own delivery

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experience, projects are likely to me more receptive to the PEG. If you are not able to empathise with delivery teams, they would likely tune off when you appear before them.... Stay current on delivery. Do not stay for too long in the PEG. Rotation will increase your own ability to grow, and getting in fresh PEG entrants from delivery will improve the credibility, acceptability and utility of the PEG. But getting them in is not a job that can be subcontracted to RMG! You have to be able to convince people to join the PEG for mutual benefit.

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Predictive Causal Analysis or Excuses?

29 March 2011

When do you do Causal Analysis? -IMRAN FLAYS MINISTER FOR FIXING COMMENTS Cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan on Monday slammed Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik for saying Shahid Afridi and Co. are being watched to ensure there is no match fixing in Wednesday's World Cup semi-final against India in Mohali.To be honest, I am more worried about Rehman Malik. He is the one who needs to be watched, said Imran, who heads a political party, Tehreek-e-Insaaf, in Pakistan. I am serious. Do you know he (Malik) was absconding for a while? Last year, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari reportedly used his discretionary powers to bail out Malik, who was facing corruption charges dating back to the 1990s. Asked if Malik's comments would put more pressure on the Pakistan cricket team, Imran said: I am sure none of them will even read his comments. They have better things to do. Malik had reportedly said in Karachi: I gave a warning that there should be no match-fixing. I am keeping a close watch. If any such thing happens, we are going to take action. Imran Khan also wants bank accounts of cricketers to be open to scrutiny to weed out corruption related to match and spot fixing. Spot fixing particularly is very difficult to detect, Imran said. I would go a step further and say all accounts of the cricketers should be disclosed and watched. Unless you do that spot fixing will bring a lot of damage (to cricket). Have you seen this in reviews? As the project details are presented, suddenly you see items which are not managed as risks/FMEA, but are 'put on the record'. The onsite/offshore team is/is not doing this; The customer is/is not doing this; There is another vendor involved, who is creating the problem.. Like Rehman Malik's observation, they become relevant only if the project (game) fails to meet expectations. When the blamestorming happens within our multiple teams involved in a project, it becomes apparent within moments of the initiation of the review. In such cases, whatever the other issues may be, it is necessary to address this issue more than anything else,

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for team consensus is essential. When the issues are outside the control of our organization, they must be addressed within the customer governance set-up, or treated as constraints which will be factored into the successful implementation of the project. How do you handle 'fireworks reviews'? PS Being extra-superstitious, no learning will be presented tomorrow :-)

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Result or Process: Which is More Important?

31 March 2011

Here's Anil Kumble's take on it prior to yesterday's war, (which India won, again validating my superstitions!) Have you seen this in some projects? The project team is under a lot of pressure- perhaps because of the size, visibility, hard schedules, technology, functionality... In a sense, these projects are seen as 'focus' projects. When one talks to the project team, one senses that process is the last thing on their minds because of the stress they are under. 'Focus' projects tend to proceed with more solutions found by desperation and hunger to succeed, and Captain Cool will have a magical way of inspiring her/his team and steering the project through difficult times, and producing results. Have you ever heard a GL of a hyper-red project asking you that the CSI is 5ish, so why is the project

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Red? Typically, the reason such projects succeed is the kind of competencies built into the team and bandwidth of leadership focus on the project. And we're all proud when the project gets accolades. But... Can the leadership teams devote this bandwidth to all their projects? This is a 'catch question', for no one will wish to say that one project is less important than another, yet there are terms like priority and radar which are part of our vocabulary. Pragmatically, 'Focus' project teams get inspired by the environment and attention, and do stuff without being prompted or pushed. The processes are therefore agile and internalised to such an extent that they are not visible. Note that Anil's sentence reads "the result is more important than the process" and not 'the process is less important than the result." Facilitating such projects for delivery assurance will be more effective if we stick to the former. And not "the process is more important than the results." Every project will not have the same rich team as a 'Focus' project team. For these 'Non-focus' projects, the communication should be 'the process is as important as the results'. Executing the processes and validating the successful results is what enables the internalisation required for 'Focus' projects to succeed. And, in all cases, encourage process innovation that you don't see in the coaching manual. That's what gives Pepsi the chance of being the Official Sponsor of Change the Game additions to the coaching manual, like Dilscoop, Slinga, Helicopter Shot, etc. What is your experience on this theme?

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How Effective should a Review/Audit be?

1 April 2011

The real review or audit of a project happens internally, just like the role played by the on-field umpires. Self declaration of possible errors makes it even better, like Sachin's walking or Nehra doubting if he really took the catch cleanly. A Decision Review System Referral is like an EQA, PMR, or Audit. Ideally, it finds out no new issues, which the internal reviews and governance have not already discovered. The DRS decision is not always final. If there is a doubt, the result is 'On field call'. Similarly, when external reviews and audits occur: Identify a person to conduct a review/audit who is competent enough to produce a 'foolproof' review/audit report, by looking at all the required factors and making the right judgment. Should one raise an NCR like 'Wrong report template used' when the report used in the project meets the project's governance requirements?

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Do not encourage an attitude of: I am the reviewer, I know more than you so my word is final. Issues raised must have the genuine acceptance by the project team so that they are closed in spirit. If external review results are not consistently right, they risk losing credibility, just like DRS. The incident below (which is not an April Fool story) happened in a project audit many years ago: Auditor asks for review reports for items in the Client Supplied Product Register. Auditee says all we have is standard Microsoft Products and User Manuals, which need not be reviewed. Auditor disagrees and the exchange continues for a while. Auditee decides to accept the NCR. Auditee goes to QAG with a 'Review Report of Microsoft Visual Basic User Manual'- with no defects, and asks for the NCR to be verified as closed. QAG agrees to close the NCR, but asks why is it being done this way. Auditee: I was wasting my time arguing with the auditor who obviously does not understand the situation. It was more productive to accept the NCR and close it! Enjoy the finals tomorrow!

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Celebration Time!!
4 April 2011

Finally the Helicopter Shot Sixer brought the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 to India!

Celebrate every success. Just like the photograph of Kapil's Devils inspired so many, the above picture and many such others will inspire more. And continue to inspire you as well! Aren't you inspired by past successes and appreciation- as part of bid, delivery or support teams? Notice that the above picture has more than the Delivery Team; also includes the Support Team. When you have success events in your unit, and there is an appreciation, does it include the Delivery Assurance/PE members? It's likely to happen if the alignment of Quality Assurance, Delivery Assurance and meeting the business goals is visible to all. If it does not appear so clear, it mush be improved. Gary Kirsten's group was lavishly praised by the cricketers, in turn the coach pointed out how he had to understand each team cricketer and coach them in a different style.

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See that chap hidden by the cup. Yuvraj Singh, Player of the Tournament. Last year, because of poor performance, Yuvraj was given a lower grade (band) and even dropped from the team (unallocated). Yuvraj, though unhappy with that, as evident from his interviews, decided that the only way to bounce back was to demonstrate his capability in domestic cricket. What an awesome comeback! And finally, see Sachin. In one of his post match interviews, Sachin said that he moved from tennis ball cricket to season ball cricket, because he wanted to win the World Cup. With such a self-set goal and passion to meet it, it's not surprising we won!

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